Vacuum anchor



Aug. 28, 1962 o. B. HUNTER, JR 3,051,117

VACUUM ANCHOR Filed June 21, 1960 INVENTOR zzw m,

tates 3,051,117 VACUUM ANCHOR Omer Benjamin Hunter, In, 21701 Schoenborn St., Canoga Park, aii Filed June 21, 1960, Ser. No. 37,307 5 Claims. (Cl. 114-206) This invention relates to an anchor and more particularly to a vacuum anchoring device used to anchor or retain an amusement apparatus such as a Water supported float or an air sustained balloon.

It has been the conventional practice in the anchor or hold-down retaining art, to employ an eye bolt fixed in a cement bottom of a swimming pool, for example, for ready attachment thereto of water supported floats or the like. However, difliculties have been encountered when employing this method which are largely encountered in installing such a device, as it is necessary to drain the pool of water in order that the proper tools to accomplish installation of the eye bolt may be employed on the bottom of the pool. Furthermore, since this conventional practice requires the making of holes in the cement bottom of the swimming pool, the danger is always present of cracking the pool bottom. Still another conventional method employed in the past has been to use an eye bolt fixed in a block of cement. However, this method of anchoring sometimes causes great difliculty due to the fact that the extreme weight needed for such an anchorage renders the task of moving such a block diflicult because of its weight when required to move the anchor from one location to another.

These difficulties are obviated in accordance with the present invention wherein the alteration of the pool bottom in order to accommodate such an eye bolt is not required. Furthermore, the present invention is light in weight and is readily carried or transported from one location to another for installation or removal of the anchor when installed in a body of water or when the anchor is used on dry land with a suitable hard surface such as rock.

The apparatus described in US. Patent No. 2,123,549 by inventor P. Q. Williams, for example, provides a vacuum cup which may now be considered of conventional design. This apparatus as it is described provides a vacuum cup which employs the application of pressure such as pressure by hand or other means to start a differential pressure to provide the vacuum for hold-down or retention of the anchor. The cup employs and requirm, as described, a smooth surface to which adherence occurs.

The device of the present invention obviates the difiiculties encountered with such a conventional device wherein the primary object of the present invention is to employ air or suitable gas pressure to initiate and to continue the maintenance of a ditferential holding pressure for creating the vacuum hold-down which is much greater than that differential pressure gained by conventional means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a vacuum anchoring means which may be adhered to either a smooth or rough surface such as the cement bottom of a swimming pool or such a to rocks which may be found on dry land.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel vacuum anchor that employs air or other suitable gas for creating a vacuum clamping action but an anchoring means which may employ water or other suitable liquids in the vacuum area to achieve a degree of vacuity much greater than can otherwise be gained by conventional means.

These and other objects of the present invention will be more apparent from a reading of the following description, when taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum anchor incorporating the present invention shown submerged in a body of water such as a swimming pool and attached or adhered to the bottom thereof for the purpose of anchoring a floating member; and

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view of the vacuum anchor shown in FIGURE 1 exposing the vacuum area.

With reference to the drawings, a vacuum anchor in accordance with the present invention is shown which may be said to comprise a plate 10 having a U-bolt 11 secured at a location substantially at the center of the plate so that the loop of the bolt projects upwardly from the top side thereof. As shown, the anchor is employed for restraining a float 18 which is loosely secured to the anchor by means of a rope 17 fastened about the loop of bolt 11. Since the bolt 11 is located substantially at the center of plate 10, an equal distribution of load applied from the float 18 is transmitted and dispersed through the anchor.

An inflatable tube 12 having an input valve 13 extending outwardly from the outside of the tube is shown for supporting the plate 10. The valve 13 provides a suitable means for inflating the tube 12 with air or other suitable gas. The upper side of tube 12 may be readily bonded to the under side of plate 10 so that the plate and tube may be considered a unitary construction, if desired.

An inner rim or ring 15 i suitably attached to the inside face of tube 12 which restrains the tube during its inflation. Ring 15 is employed for restraining any advancement or movement of the inside face of tube 12 into the pressure or vacuum area created during the inflation of the tube through valve 13. The invention also includes an outer ring or rim 16 which restrains the outward movement of the outer face of tube 12 during inflation. Rim 16 is afiixed to the outside circumference of the tube which restricts the outside face of the tube from movement during inflation so that a higher air pressure is allowed to be exerted upwardly against the plate 10 and down against the supporting structure bottom when tube 12 is inflated with pressurizedair or suitable gas. However, rim 15 is aflixed to the inside circumference of tube 12 and may be a metal brace of annular shape which prevents the tube from entering the low pressure or vacuum area defined by the inner face of tube 12 and the underside of plate 10 in conjunction with the upper surface of a supporting structure bottom.

The apparatus of the present invention may be construoted in many diflFerent forms but in a preferred example as shown, plate 10 is in the form of a round disc configuration. Inflatable tube 12 may be composed of rubber or other expandable material which is provided with a one-way valve 13 located in the outside face of the tube for achieving the introduction of pressurized air or other suitable gas into the tube from an outside source such as a tank (not shown).

Tube 12 is also provided with a seal 14 which may be composed of soft rubber or the like which is located on the bottom side of the tube. The seal 14 is employed for sealing the rough finish surface of the bottom of swimming pools or similar hard firm surfaces, for example, the rough texture of cement or a porous surface on rock.

Another way of creating a vacuum for the anchor of the present invention may be achieved by introducing a fluid, such as water, into the vacuum area. This method is particularly adaptable when the anchor of the present invention is used on dry land. The liquid may be added to the vacuum area by initially placing the anchor of the present invention over a hose so that water may be introduced into the area followed by withdrawal of the "hose when the area is substantially filled with water. Another way of filling the area would be to employ an inlet 19 in the upper plate of the anchor to which a hose or other fluid carrying means can be attached for the introduction of the fluid into the vacuum area. Outlet 19A may be provided to effect the removal of air within the vacuum area as the area fills with water, for example. Valves 20 may be employed to open and close the pass-age through the inlet and outlet depending upon the anchor installation.

It is to be particularly noted that plate will not rise against the water and/ or the atmospheric pressure above plate 10 fast enough to escape the rapid increase in pressure developed by inflating tube 12. That is to say, as the fluid is placed into the tube for inflation thereof, the tube will expand upward since any expansion sideways or downward is restricted and resisted by the pair of rims and supporting surface on which the anchor rests. As the tube expands upward, the pressure of the water or even the atmospheric pressure acts against this upward movement. However, a certain amount of limited upward movement of the plate is effected. Since the area defined by the inner rim, supporting structure, the underside of the plate and the tube itself is sealed from its surrounding environment, a vacuum is created by any upward movement of the plate 10. During inflation of the tube 12, the vacuum area may be said to be a low pressure area as the vacuum is created. When on dry land, similar results are accomplished by the filling of the vacuum area with water or other suitable liquid to increase the degree of vacuity.

When the apparatus of the present invention is proper- 1y installed on a supporting bed, plate 10 will be securelysupported on the tube 12 which in turn has its inflatable expansion limited sideways by rims 15 and 15, respectively. Tube 12 will, in turn, be supported adjacent to and supported on the bottom of the body of water by the differential pressure produced between the underside of plate 10-and the upper surface of the swimming pool bottom. On dry land, when water is introduced into the vacuum area, the pressure differential will be created between the underside of the plate 10 and the surface of the rock or supporting bed.

Various modifications may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An anchor for an amusement apparatus such as a Water supported float or an air supported balloon comprising a metal plate having a U-bolt attached to the center of the top side thereof, a tube, of doughnut shape, the top side of which rests against the plate, and the outer side of which has an attached air valve, a rim the outer side of which rests on the inner side of the tube and supports the tube pressure, a seal the top side of which rests against the tube bottom side, and the bottom of which rests against a strong surface such as the cement bottom of a swimming pool to which it may adhere by vacuum action.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 including a second rim placed against the outer side of said tube to hold this surface in a fixed position when the tube is inflated or filled with air or suitable gas to allow higher air pressure to be used in said tube, thereby gaining higher differential pressures.

3. An anchor comprising, a plate having a central attachment means secured to the top side thereof, an inflatable tube having an upper surface supporting the plate thereon, a valve secured to the tube for introducing a fluid therein to inflate the tube, a first rim having an outer side in engagement with the inner external face of the tube to resist tube pressure, a second rim having an inner side in engagement with the outer external face of the tube to resist tube pressure, and a seal disposed between the bottom of the tube and the upper surface of a support structure to which the anchor adheres by vacuum action.

4. An anchor comprising, a plate having a central attachment means secured to the top side thereof, a first and a second annular rim of different diameters coaxially arranged in spaced relationship, an inflatable tube confined between the first and second rim supporting the plate, means for introducing a fluid in the tube to inflate the tube, and sealing means secured to the bottom of the tube and engageable with a supporting structure to which the anchor adheres by vacuum action.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 including means for introducing a quantity of water to be contained within an area defined by the under side of the plate, the supporting structure and the tube.

Lewis Oct. 22, 1935 Johnson June 12, 1951 

